


Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family: The First Day

by SheWantsItAll



Series: Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family [3]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mr. McKinley is the teacher I aspire to be, They go to Target, Whizzer and Marvin are going to be the best foster dads, Whizzer's moment of self doubt brought to you by Bryan Collins, macaroni and cheese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29275383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheWantsItAll/pseuds/SheWantsItAll
Summary: Jake arrives at Marvin and Whizzer's apartment and spends his first evening with them. Hurt/Comfort ensues.
Relationships: Whizzer Brown/Marvin
Series: Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100567
Comments: 24
Kudos: 37





	Jake Gets a Tight Knit Family: The First Day

Mr. McKinley smiled as he looked at his email. Jake's new social worker, Isaiah, had contacted him and would be picking the kid up from school at the end of the day. He was being placed with Jason's dads. Well. Two of them. 

He had contacted Jake’s foster parents each time they changed, making suggestions for things that they could do to help him at school. Each family assured him that they would work on it, but he couldn’t tell that anyone was actually doing anything. He hated watching what all of the moving around did to him- he hated watching as this sweet little kid became completely withdrawn every time he was forced to move, regardless of if the placement was safe or not. 

He had spent the last five months wishing that he could do _something_ to help the child, who had been physically safe but emotionally struggling, other than by loving on him at school, and over the last several weeks after he had been placed with the Johnson family, making repeated reports of abuse to the state. It didn't seem like enough. 

Shortly after Jake had come to their classroom, he had considered becoming a foster parent himself, desperate to have him somewhere secure. Where he would be both safe _and_ cared for. After learning that teachers could qualify for kinship care, and the process would be relatively smooth he had talked to Kevin about it, convinced that it could and would work out. Unfortunately, ever the voice of reason, Kevin had reminded him that between the two of them they weren't home enough to take care of a dog, let alone a human child. And especially not a traumatized human child who would need extra care and love.

He knew that this would be good for him, though. He had met Whizzer and Marvin countless times during the school year and he knew that either one of them would do absolutely anything for Jason, and since they had decided to do this, they would also do absolutely anything for Jake as well. 

His students were at their math stations, all working with their groups on various activities, and he decided that now would be the best time to let Jake know what was happening without drawing too much attention to the situation. Jake had been something of an outcast in the classroom ever since his arrival, only really connecting with Jason and Nelly and almost never interacting with any of the other kids unless it was absolutely necessary. 

Mr. McKinley loved his students. They could be unbelievably sweet and caring, but unfortunately they could also be unbelievably cruel. His kiddos collectively had no filter whatsoever, and often said whatever they thought, without any consideration as to how their words would make others feel. He didn't think they usually meant things maliciously, but needless to say, "how would you feel if someone said that about you?" was a question he asked almost as often as "what sound does this letter make?"

He caught Jake's gaze and waved him over as subtly as he could. He watched as his little group briefly turned to look at what was going on, but after a quick "turn around" glance and hand signal they returned to their geoboards. 

He slapped on his most reassuring smile and thought through what he was going to say. He hadn't quite reached how the exchange would end when he felt, not for the first time that day, little skinny arms wrap around him. 

The little boy, the smallest in their class, had been painfully shy and anxious when he had arrived, but through patience and consistency, they had built a bond of trust much more quickly than Mr. McKinley had ever expected. Part of that trust was frequent hugs. 

Sometimes Mr. McKinley worried it was too much- that he needed to do a better job of distancing himself and maintaining more "professional" relationships with his students, but how was he supposed to tell a six year old that he wouldn't give them a hug? Kids who want hugs are usually kids who _need_ hugs. 

He hugged him back gently, hating the way he could feel the little boy's spine. "Are you having a good morning, kiddo?"

Jake nodded. He didn't let go. He had been removed from his last foster home with the Johnson's and placed with Mr. and Mrs. Miller over the weekend. They were nice enough. They were kind of old and their house smelled kind of funny, but they weren't mean like the Johnson family was. He hadn't had a hug since he was at school on Friday. It always made him feel safe when Mr. McKinley hugged him.

"Mr. Isaiah sent me a message. He's going to pick you up from school today, and after he does he's taking you to a new long term placement," he started quietly to maintain the secret before feeling Jake tense, "hey, it's okay. You've met Jason’s dads, right?” he knew that he had. The boys had been fast friends and he knew that they’d been in contact before at class parties and on one particularly memorable field trip. 

Jake nodded and Mr. McKinley took it as his cue to continue. 

"You're going to be going to stay with them. I know you've met them, so you know them a little bit. Jason already knows what's happening, so maybe he can reassure you some more, but I think it's going to be a really good thing for you buddy."

Jake finally cracked a smile. So _that_ was why Jason had been weird and giggly all morning- he already knew what was going on. 

"Do you think they're gonna like me?" he asked ever so quietly, face falling back into its usual stoic expression. His chest swirled with emotions. Equal parts excited at the possibility of people who would actually take care of him and nervous that he wouldn't be good enough. He had never been good enough for anyone to keep him for very long. 

"Of course they'll like you! They're good people kiddo. You're going to be safe and taken care of and loved. They're going to _love_ you. I'm sure of it."

~~~

Jake stood behind Isaiah as he rang the doorbell to Jason's dads' apartment. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. He had met them before, and they were both nice. But they hadn't been stuck with him before. He fiddled with his backpack strap and took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. Mr. McKinley had told him it was going to be okay. 

The door swung open quickly and he peeked out from behind from his hiding place to see two men standing in the doorway, both looking much happier to see him coming than anyone else ever had. He could see a little bit into the apartment behind them. It looked… nice. And clean. And not at all like many of the places he had stayed since being relocated to the area five months ago. He scrunched himself back behind Isaiah, suddenly more nervous than he had been all day. He _had_ to make a good impression. They _had_ to like him, and grown ups didn’t usually like him very much. 

He heard them talking to Isaiah and he tried to listen, but he was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn’t really hear it. By the time he snapped back to reality, he was being gently guided inside. Had they already introduced themselves? He didn’t even catch their names. Jason had told him, and he had met them before, but he couldn’t seem to remember. What was he supposed to call them? It’s not like he could ask- then they would know how stupid he was. 

He looked around. The apartment was _so_ big and he felt so small standing in the entryway with these people he didn’t know, his social worker, and his white trash bag, half full and containing all of his possessions. He held tighter to the straps of his backpack and fixed his eyes on the floor, letting Isaiah’s hand on his shoulder guide him through the house. 

He liked Isaiah. He hadn’t been his social worker for long- in fact he had only been assigned to Jake after his last social worker was brought under investigation for negligence after the Johnsons turned out to be so horrible, but so far he had been nice and he hadn’t sent him anywhere people were mean. 

“Alright Jake, this is your room. When Jason’s here on the weekend he’s right across the hall, and we’re always just right next door,” The Tall One said. Then he opened the door.

Jake finally looked up from the floor and his eyes instantly widened. It looked like something on tv. The walls were light blue, except for one that was navy with little white stars. There was clean white furniture and a bed with a fuzzy looking blue blanket. Space themed artwork decorated the walls and there were tiny Christmas lights where the walls met the ceiling so that it would never ever be too dark and scary. He was shocked- there was no way that this was all of him. _No way._

He looked up at his new foster parents. The Tall One smiled at him; he smiled so hard that his eyes scrunched up and Jake couldn’t help but smile back just a little bit. The Short One was smiling too, but he also looked nervous and also...sort of sad? He could relate to the nervous part. The sad thing was confusing. He offered The Short One a small smile as well and gathered up all of his courage to speak. 

“Is it...for me?” he asked quietly, leaving the safety of his spot still mostly tucked behind Isaiah to go run his fingers over the furry looking blanket. 

“Of course kiddo. You’ve got to have somewhere to sleep, right?” The Short One asked.

Jake nodded. He could barely remember the last time he’d had a room of his own. He didn’t think that he’d had a room of his own that was anywhere near this nice and clean and new since he lived with his first family. He didn’t like to think about them, though. They had even made it his favorite color. “Th-Thankyou,” he squeaked out. It didn’t feel like enough. He felt so overwhelmed by their kindness, and a small part of him wanted to charge forwards and hug them both, but the much larger, distrustful part of him wondered what they wanted from him. 

Isaiah stuck around a while longer, talking to the grown ups. Jake wandered around and quietly explored the room, no, his room. He really wanted to know what, if anything, was in the little blue square bins on the shelf, but he stuffed his hands in his pockets, unsure if he was actually allowed to touch things. 

He looked over, surprised to see The Short One sitting on the floor nearby. 

“You can touch anything you want, Jake- it’s yours now, no matter what happens,”

Jake looked at him. He looked a lot like Jason. That was sort of weird. He seemed nice though. He carefully pulled one of the cubes down, delighted to find it full of rainbow colored legos. He had about six that matched them in his trash bag of belongings, but there were only so many things he could build with them.

He didn’t say anything back, but he tried to smile a little. If he didn’t say anything, he couldn’t mess things up. And he really didn’t want to mess this up. He started picking out bricks one by one and sticking them together, not trying to build anything specific, but happy to have a distraction. He was also determined to not make a mess. Grown ups _never_ liked it when he made a mess.

Which was why it was so surprising when The Short One reached over and dumped the entire bin out with a smile. 

Jake stared at him with a look of horror. That _definitely_ wasn’t how things usually went.

“We can put them back if you want...I just… Jason usually likes to dump them all out,” 

He sounded sort of hesitant, like he was worried that he was going to say something wrong. That was also weird. 

“I know… He’s messy,” Jake mumbled. Jason consistently made a mess of their classroom any time they got to do anything fun, and because they were best friends and always together, Jake was guilty by association. They were just lucky that Mr. McKinley was a fun teacher and didn’t seem to mind too much as long as they helped clean things up. 

The Short One laughed. “Oh I know he is. It’s alright to be messy sometimes though,” he leaned closer and mock whispered conspiratorially, “I think he gets it from Whizzer over there. He’s messy too,”

Whizzer. So that’s what The Tall One’s name was. What was he supposed to call him though? What were the rules? Isaiah didn’t like to be called Mr. but Mr. McKinley was always Mr. McKinley. It was confusing. He was never supposed to call foster parents by their first name. Sometimes they made him call them Mom and Dad. He hated that. Sometimes it was just Mr. and Mrs. Last Name, but that wouldn’t really work here. They’re _both_ Mr. Brown. 

“I’m not messy!” he heard Whizzer call from the other side of the room. 

The Short One laughed again. “He definitely is. To be fair we both are. And so is Jason. So it’s okay if you’re messy too, kiddo.” 

Jake nodded. Maybe he would be okay here after all. 

~~~

Isaiah left eventually, then it was just him and Whizzer and The Short One. They ended up on a mission to Target. After seeing the few things that he had been able to bring with him, and taking in the state of his dilapidated sneakers, Whizzer had insisted that they go and pick out some clothes. Jake didn’t argue- he didn’t know when he would get a chance like that again, and it was cold outside without a coat.

The ride over was mostly quiet. He listened as they talked back and forth, trying to pick up any clues he could about their personalities. They asked him questions occasionally, harmless things, like what he liked to do and what his favorite food was. He tried to answer in as few words as he could, not wanting to mess things up. 

“I like mac and cheese,” he said quietly, fiddling with the car seat harness. 

“An excellent choice. That’s Jason’s favorite too. There’s always lots of mac and cheese around our house.”

“Really? I thought he didn’t like it… he always gives me his when we have it in the cafeteria at school…”

Marvin looked at Whizzer for half a second. Their kid was so sweet. “He’s pretty picky about his mac and cheese,” he conceded, hoping that it was the right response to protect Jake and Jason’s friendship, but also allow Jason to be non-suspicious when inhaling mass quantities of mac and cheese every single weekend. 

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Jake hopped out of the car and followed them into the store, happily accepting when Whizzer suggested that he could stand and ride on the end of the shopping cart. 

They arrived in the little boys clothing section and they asked him to pick out some things that he liked. It was sort of overwhelming. He didn’t want to ask for too much, but they wanted him to pick things. He couldn’t just not. 

He picked up a cozy looking red, yellow, and blue striped long sleeve shirt. Jason had one that matched it and it always looked… happy. He carefully placed it in the cart. There were so many options. And they were both looking at him. He felt frozen. 

Sensing his trepidation, Whizzer offered a compromise, “How about this… you two go and pick out a backpack and I’ll pick some things out. When you come back, you can tell me what you like?”

Jake nodded, relieved at the prospect of A less overwhelming task. He followed The Short One over to a display of backpacks. On the way there, he saw a shelf of stuffed animals out of the corner of his eye. He immediately shifted his eyes back to the floor. No. He couldn't ask for anything. They were already doing so much for him. 

He stood before the wall of backpacks and quickly chose a blue one covered in tiny orcas. It was perfect. It was the coolest backpack he had ever seen and it was definitely better than the dirty yellow backpack that he had gotten at a church sponsored backpack give away party before he started kindergarten. 

"Are you sure that's the one?" Marvin asked. The question was mostly hypothetical, given the way Jake was clutching the bag to his chest.

He nodded enthusiastically.

Perfect. Now there was just one thing they needed. Marvin led him over to the stuffed animal display that he had been sneaking not so subtle peeks at while they looked at the backpacks. He knelt down so that Jake didn't have to look up so severely, determined to make eye contact to show that his words were genuine. 

Jake was confused. What was happening. 

"Do you pick one out to take with us?"

_Of course_ he wanted to, but he shook his head. It felt like a trap. He wasn't sure why, but it felt trapish. But then The Short One looked sad.

"Are you sure? Kiddo we're always going to take care of what you need, but also, within reason, what you just want. It's _okay_ to want things,"

Jake looked at him. He still looked sort of sad. People didn't usually look sad when they lied to him. Or when they were going to be mean to him. He didn't like it that he looked sad. "Okay," he said quietly. 

"Plus, everyone needs something soft to cuddle at night. That includes you."

He wanted to argue that he _did_ have something to cuddle at night. He had Froggy. Froggy was a teeny tiny stuffed frog that used to be a keychain on Jason's backpack. When he fell off of the loop that attached him to the zipper Jason had given him to Jake. In the months since he had practically rubbed the fuzz off of the tiny plush. Maybe Froggy didn't really count. 

He ran his fingers over all of the different stuffed animals, carefully exploring which one was the softest before spotting a soft looking whale on a shelf just out of his reach. He glanced over at The Short One and pointed at it without a word. 

He smiled and handed it down to him. 

"Thank you," Jake said quietly, holding it tightly over top of the backpack. It was so soft. It was perfect. 

They went back to find Whizzer standing over a shopping cart half full of clothes. There was a warm looking puffy coat on the top, along with a pair of light up shoes like Jason's. There was so much stuff. 

"Alright… I think I got everything we need!"

Jake thought that seemed like an understatement. There was enough stuff in that cart for ten kids like him. It would take forever to go through it all and he was just wanted to go back to their apartment. He had been promised mac and cheese for dinner and he was so hungry. He couldn't say that though. 

His tummy, however, decided to make itself known, growling loudly in the relative quiet of the store. Jake blushed hard, wrapping his arms around it in an attempt to make it stop.

Whizzer let out a laugh and Jake relaxed in an instant. He wasn't going to be in trouble.

"On second thought, it sounds like you're pretty hungry. Why don't we take everything with us and go home for some food? We can bring back anything that you don't like."

Jake nodded, silently stunned at the fact that they were just going to take everything. 

The ride back to the apartment had been much the same as the ride away from it, except now Jake had the whale to hold. They had talked a little bit more, but he mostly stayed quiet. He felt so tired. He hadn't really done that much, but the emotional strain of the day had worn him out. 

It was already dark when they got to the apartment and he was incredibly thankful when they got back to the apartment and soft pajamas and new underwear were pressed into his hands. When he denied needing any help, he was sent off alone to take a bath and get ready for dinner and bedtime. 

~~~

Jake sat down on their couch, trying to make himself as small as possible- he hadn't even been there a day, he couldn't mess things up now. 

He looked around. Everything was so... Nice. And so clean. He hadn't seen a single bug anywhere- Jason hadn't been lying. 

A cat walked over to him delicately and sniffed at him for a moment, before deciding he was worthy and hopping up on the couch next to him. Jake smiled; it had to be Noodles. Jason had told him all about Noodles. 

He petted her carefully, stroking up the bridge of her nose and rubbing between her ears. He giggled when she started to lick his fingers. 

His head was buzzing. He knew that he should be excited, everything pointed to Whizzer and The Short One being good people, but so many people hadn't in the past. He was just so tired. They had done all of these nice things for him already. He didn't deserve any of it..he was just..there. He wasn't even good. 

He pet Noodles more vigorously. His tummy hurt. He was hungry, but also... not. Mostly he was nervous. They had been so nice so far. They had decorated that room just for him. They had gotten him all those nice clothes. They were making him macaroni and cheese. He knew from experience though that sometimes people were nice to make you trust them before they did something really mean. 

He sat and petted Noodles on the couch, otherwise absolutely still until he heard Whizzer call to let him know that dinner was ready. 

He sat in one of the empty chairs at the table, behind a plate with chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. He fiddled with his fork, watching the two adults to see what he was supposed to do. Dinner time had been different at every house he had ever been in.

When it seemed safe, he dug in quickly, sighing a bit at the taste of the macaroni and cheese. It was so good. No wonder Jason didn't like the macaroni and cheese at school. 

They talked quietly back and forth, asking him questions occasionally. He was so tired. Being so on guard all day was exhausting and he just wanted to eat food and go to bed. He really liked these people so far. But they asked too many questions. 

He wiggled his foot, listening as it tapped the chair leg over and over and over. He was so focused on the rhythm that he must have zoned out and missed a question. His eyes flicked up from his bowl of macaroni and saw both of them looking at him intently. 

He knew everything that Mr. McKinley and Jason had told him. That they were good people and that he would be safe. He didn't think that they were lying, and they hadn't done anything to make him think they were wrong. But he had seen what people could do. He had been assured by every social worker he had ever known that the next placement was with good people who would take care of him, and they had almost always been wrong- whether they just didn't know or they were lying, he could never be sure. 

"Jake would it be okay with you if we put the clothes you brought with you in the wash? Is there anything you need out of the bag first?" Whizzer asked, repeating his questions now that Jake was looking at them. 

Suddenly it felt hard to breathe. They were going to know how gross he was. Everything he had was so, so dirty. He stared at his mac and cheese. "Can I get Froggy out first?" 

"Of course kiddo, let me jus-"

"Actually can I just... Can I be excused," oh no he had interrupted- they knew he was horrible- he hadn't realized Whizzer was going to start talking again he just couldn't be there any more. It was all too much. He felt his face heat up. "P-Please?" He added on desperately. 

"Of course, Jake," 

Marvin watched as he scampered away. Truth be told, things were going better than he had expected- he seemed nervous, yes, but that was to be expected. They were brand new people and they hadn't had the chance to prove themselves yet. It was going to be a process to earn his trust, and while he hoped they were on their way, he never expected things to happen quickly. Earning his trust was going to take a lot more than some new clothes and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. One look at Whizzer's face told him that things were _not_ , in fact, going better than _he_ had expected. 

He stood and walked around to the other side of the table, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. He heard a door snap shut and, assuming it was Jake's bedroom door, asked, "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"That poor kid is terrified of us. Both of us… what do we do? Obviously we're doing something wrong…"

"Sweetheart it's just going to take time. You didn't think it would be a matter of some new stuff and a hot meal and then he would completely trust us?"

"No… but I didn't think he would look so scared,"

"He'll come around. We're doing the right things- we just have to let him get comfortable, and that's going to take time."

He stopped at the sound of tiny little sniffles coming from down the hall. The panic in Whizzer's eyes surprised him- what a switch. "Don't worry, I'll check on him. Unless you want to?"

Whizzer sighed. "No, go ahead… yell if you need me? Or..text? Something" He looked absolutely defeated. How could he not? Maybe Marvin would have better luck than he seemed to- they'd had that moment at Target. Maybe that would help.

Marvin walked to Jake's room and was surprised to find it empty. He quickly checked in Jason's room and found it to be the same. He couldn't have gone upstairs- they would have seen him. It has been four hours. Had they lost him already?

Jake squeezed himself in between the bathtub and a laundry basket. He felt his heart racing. He wasn't supposed to be in there- he was supposed to be in his room, but he couldn't find it. Why were there so many doors?? He scrunched up tighter and crossed his arms over his chest, squeezing slightly. It was almost like a hug.. but it wasn't quite right. His hands weren't big enough and they weren't warm enough and also they were his so it didn't really mean anything. He wanted a hug so badly- a proper hug. 

He momentarily wished that he was back at school. Mr. McKinley would hug him. He thought about all of the times he had seen Jason with his dads... being picked up from school, at the winter holiday party, and on that one field trip to the museum. They were always hugging him- especially The Short One, although Whizzer did too. Maybe Jason could tell him what The Short One's name was at school tomorrow. And what he should call him. He hadn't actually called them anything yet. Anyway. 

They were _always_ hugging him. They never seemed like they were going to hurt him. But he wasn't Jason. He wasn't _theirs_. Jake squeezed himself tighter, desperately trying to ease the ache in his chest. They had been so nice to him, but he couldn't help feeling scared. What if they changed their mind about him? What if they sent him back to the Johnsons? 

When Marvin didn't find Jake in his room or in Jason's room, or any other room he tapped on the bathroom door as quietly as he could, not wanting to scare him.

"Jake.. are you in there kiddo?"

He heard a slightly distressed sound to the affirmative. 

"Alright kiddo... It's okay if you need to be alone, but we wanted to make sure that you're okay."

"M fine," He squeaked out. He didn't sound fine

"Okay... Let us know if you need anything kiddo. I know that you don't really know us yet, and I'm sure that's scary, but we're here to help you and we're _so_ glad that you're here with us," he said, feeling helpless. He sat down on the floor outside the door, unwilling to leave him completely alone in an unfamiliar place. 

He tried to put himself in Jake's shoes. His childhood situation wasn't great with his own parents, but he couldn't imagine how scary it would be to just be dropped off with people he didn't know, with no real way to contact anyone if they turned out to be horrible. Especially after the experiences Jake had had. 

He wondered briefly if they had done the right things. If they'd done anything that made him feel uncomfortable. He didn't think so, but he hoped he would tell them if they had, as unlikely as that seemed. 

The "fixer" in him had a whole list of things he wanted to do. Find out if the kid wanted a haircut- and get the knots out of the back of his hair even if he didn't. Cover him in neosporin and bandaids. Switch his backpack out and fill it with shiny new school supplies. Devise a plan to try to get him on track at school. 

He worried that all of that stuff seemed shallow. His school supplies, no matter how tatty, were _his_. The last thing he wanted to do was deprive him of the security that came with his things, no matter how scruffy they were. His physical appearance didn't matter. He just... wanted to make things better in any way he could. Wanted to show Jake that they cared about him and that they were trying.

More than anything else he wanted to smother him with hugs and kisses and affection, but he knew that it wasn't the time. He hoped it would be the time someday soon because he wasn't sure how long he would be able to fight the urge to hug him. 

Jake sniffled. No one had ever been glad he was there before. He felt tears on his cheeks and swiped them away with the soft sleeve of his pajamas. He didn't think he'd ever had anything so nice before. 

He wondered if he could find his room if he tried again. The tile was hard and his feet were cold and he knew that if he could find his room there was a fuzzy blanket waiting for him on the bed. On _his_ bed. 

He got up carefully and went to the door, opening it quickly and stumbling into the hall. Everything was blurry and he tripped over… something. 

He blinked rapidly and found himself face to face with The Short One. His warm hands were on Jake's shoulders and he looked so concerned. 

"Woah there! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I was in the way.. I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Jake thought about what Mr. McKinley had said. They were safe. They would protect him. They would take care of him. They hadn't done anything to make him think otherwise. They had both been nothing but nice since he got there. So why was he so scared?

Marvin watched in horror as Jake shook his head no and his eyes filled with tears. 

"Oh kiddo.. I'm so sorry, did you hurt yourself-" he was quickly cut off by skinny little arms wrapping around his neck. 

Shocked, he hugged him back ever so carefully, heart breaking as he heard him start to cry. He rubbed his back gently, momentarily scrambling for the right response. 

"Oh no… no no no, it's okay… you're alright...It's been a big scary day, hasn't it buddy?" he asked quietly. 

Jake nodded into his shirt, not relinquishing his hold. It _had_ been a big scary day. Lots of new things had happened and he didn't have a clue what was going to happen next. The uncertainty of the whole situation was so scary. 

"I'm sure it was… you're alright though, you're safe here. I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen to you here,"

Jake wasn't sure why, but he believed him. He could have been lying. But somehow Jake just knew he wasn't. He felt safer than he had felt in months. More safe than he had felt in years. He held on as tight as he could and let himself cry, equal parts overwhelmed and relieved. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been held that way. Safe and warm and comforted. 

Marvin held him close, stroking his hair and whispering every soothing reassurance that came to mind. This precious, precious child. It was awful to imagine the abuse and neglect he had suffered being inflicted on _any_ child, but the thought of it happening to _this_ child, to _their child_ was unthinkable. 

He rocked them gently, continuing to ramble to Jake, promising that everything would be alright. That he was safe. That he and Whizzer were both so glad he was there with them.

Jake held on tight, feeling nearly-secure for the first time in months. Maybe they would keep him around for a while. He decided that wanted to stay as long as they would keep him.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh to be able to give your students a reassuring smile they can see and hug them without thinking about germs. Mr. McKinley really is living in my fantasy land.
> 
> Jake attaches himself to our dear sweet couple (especially The Short One 💖) quite quickly here. I know that this isn't entirely realistic, especially given his trauma, BUT also is based on one of my kiddos who is in foster care. Soooo. There's that. Also I'm a sucker for a happy ending, and so... there it is. 
> 
> I hope that everyone is doing well! Stay safe, wear a mask, and wash your hands! 💖💖💖


End file.
